I walked around Deer Lake in Burnaby, BC, today, and the highlight was spotting a small raptor. It was hard to get a good shot, but the iNaturalist hive mind confirms it’s a Merlin.
I think this is only the second time that I’ve photographed a Merlin.
Tanabata Market at Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre just up the hill from our place today. Fun as always! Betcha can’t guess what I had to eat! 
Hawk day on Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC. A Red-tailed that’s part of a family that’s been nesting just across from our master bedroom window, and, I’m guessing, a Sharp-shinned? Quite small. . .
We took a stroll along the waterfront in Steveston, BC, today. It was my first photo shoot with the Canon SX740HS pocket superzoom that I wrote about in the post previous to this one.
A few shots:
Happy to get a Canon SX740HS compact superzoom camera today, despite it being a model that’s several years old.
I’ve had an SX720HS and an SX730HS, and while they are not that great in dim light, their 40X optical zoom lenses make a decent nature/wildlife pocket camera when you don’t want to carry heavy artillery like a DSLR or even a mirrorless system.
My SX730HS was falling apart after many years of service. I carry it in a cargo pant or jacket pocket nearly all the time, eh? I was happy to get a brand new SX740HS for the original Canadian list price, as they are hard to find and some stores are charging up to double the original list price as supply dries up.
I don’t know why Canon doesn’t come out with a new SX750HS with a better sensor and software at a reasonable price — I think it would sell well, and several camera review sites agree.
Yeah, yeah, cell phones take wonderful photos & videos these days, but a 40X optical zoom? Hah!
I enjoyed watching this Cedar Waxwing scratching an itch at One Mile Lake near Pemberton, BC.
Bald Eagle sortie at One Mile Lake near Pemberton, BC, this morning. This time the observing and patrolling did not result in any fish. . .
I had a few days of “fishy” salmon advisory meetings on the Sunshine Coast, so I headed up on an early ferry on the first day so that I could take photos.
I’d shot Western Painted Turtles at a pond on the Egmont Road before, and sure enough, I saw several this time, too.
Note: photos shot from the bank with a long telephoto lens. . .
Some more info about these turtles here from the South Coast Conservation Program.
I dropped a tire off to have a puncture fixed at Canadian Tire in south Burnaby, BC, and headed on down to Fraser Foreshore Park for a photo walk while I waited.
Cedar Waxwing
Rufous Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
Bewick’s Wren ?
Goldfinch and Robin
Trying to keep some Canada Goose pre-teens in line. . .
No trip to Foreshore Park is complete without at least one Great Blue Heron
I took an overnight camping trip up the Sea to Sky and was happy to find a couple of Osprey near Pemberon, BC.
